Do you know your money weakness?

It’s important to know your weaknesses. I think most of us cringe when we get the question in an interview “what is your greatest weakness?” You don’t want anyone to know your weaknesses but somehow you have to reveal one (or some) of them especially during an interview.

The trick is though if you know your weakness, you’ll attempt to turn things around and better yourself. So if you answer the question “what is your greatest weakness” you’ll say “my greatest weakness is this, BUT”.

The “but” shows that you acknowledge your lesser-than ability and that you are working on improving it – that you are doing certain things to overcome that challenge.

A TWITTER CHAT ON BUDGETING
On Wednesday 18 April 2018, I was part of a Twitter chat called #sheVestorChats run by the @sheVestorafrica community. The title of the conversation was “how to be bougie on a budget” and the guest was Masho Maz, a lecturer who specialises in investment management.

We spoke about things like black tax and how to approach a budget while having this challenge, and why should African women make budgeting a priority.

When it comes to financial literacy, Masho said that many people fail to understand the difference between investing and saving. Another thing she brought up is that financial wellness is linked to emotional wellness.

YOUR FINANCIAL WEAKNESS
Later in the chat (I cannot remember what question it was), I remembered what one of my weaknesses are when it comes to money. I try to keep cash on me and a list that shows what I should buy because I tend to spend unnecessarily.

When I’m working at the office I pack in a lunch from home and I do not carry any cash on me because I’m easily tempted to buy snacks. That’s my weakness – buying unnecessary things when I have cash.

I even leave my debit card at home because I don’t want to be tempted. And yes, I’ve had occasions when colleagues went out for drinks and I’m like “I can’t do this spur of the moment things” because I have my debit card at home.

This is how I save money. I’d rather plan ahead on how I’m going to spend money than spend and later think “where did my money go?”

WHY IMPROVE IT?
Obviously, this habit kicked in after I realised that I do not have money left before I get my salary each month. I had to somehow save money. And like Masho said: financial wellness is linked to emotional wellness.

I found that I would get upset whenever my money ran out and I didn’t have any left in case of an emergency or even food! If something upsets you, you have to find a way to change it.

This habit of mine to save a little more cents is also so that I can spend more on debts.

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3 Comments

You have really brought up a bad habit most of us out there struggle with. Sometimes you sit back and reflect and ask yourself, where did all that money go to ? Guess what, emergency situations that bring in stress erupt when you are broke.